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Visionaries

Last year I stepped back and looked at the different types of client's I have worked with. Whether they were business owners or business buyers, I realized there were two distinctive types. It's best illustrated by my example of different business buyer styles that I incorporated into a few talks I recently gave.

For buyers, I have come to classify them as either visionary buyers or cover-my-butt (CMB) buyers. Visionary buyers look at a deal and see what can happen. As one client recently told me, "I don't care if I pay X or $100,000 more than X. That's chump change if I can get control of that company." CMB buyers look at a deal and seek protections. "What if the sky falls? What if I'm not as good as I think I am? What if the market changes? The seller should share a big part of that risk."

It's everywhere

It actually doesn't matter if it's a business buyer, someone starting a business or running a company (and even, to a lesser extent, someone investing in a franchise). There are CMB business buyers, owners and managers.

Now keep in mind there's a difference between being a visionary and impetuous behavior. Reckless and rash behavior has its own pitfalls. For example, I like to tell people that most of my business buyer clients are somewhat analytical. They want to make sure they're asking the right questions and getting the right answers. The seat-of-the-pants buyer is the one who hires me a year or so after the deal closed to figure out what they bought, how much they overpaid and/or to renegotiate their deal.

A visionary still takes caution, but doesn't let the fear over the lack of protection get in the way of a deal or growing the business. It could be "giving in" on some things when buying a company. As one buyer did a couple years ago after writing me to ask if the seller was "getting greedy." He realized that all of the seller's requests totaled only $12,000, immediately gave that and more to the seller and signed his deal within days.

It could be the company president who went out on a limb to pay new salespeople a base salary well above what any previous salesperson had ever received and was rewarded within months when their commissions exceeded that "elevated" base salary. Or perhaps the owner who finally realizes that bad salespeople won't be changed and turned the long leash into a very short leash. No more excuses, either do what you are supposed to do or you won't be working here (no matter how "good" those excuses sounded).

Step back

A visionary is someone who can see the big picture and make it better. Many years ago, in a much different business, I qualified for the national sales conference (and a free trip to Europe). One of the speakers was a "big hitter." Both within the company and the industry. I remember very clearly his statement that everyone should spend 20% of their time on things outside their comfort zone. New and exciting ideas, new customer targets, markets, etc. Sometimes the 20% is tough, but always in my to-do book are ideas to try, things to do, etc.

To summarize, every successful person takes caution. It's when caution turns into over analyzing (or analysis-paralysis) that we become CMB people. It's a matter of taking calculated risks where the upside is much greater than the downside. Somewhat similar to venture capitalists, they know not every deal will payoff but that the homeruns will more than make up for the singles and strikeouts.

© Copyright John Martinka 2004. All rights reserved.